Parental ignorance about antibiotic causes health hazard to children
City Desk :
A significant number of parents in Bangladesh lack the essential understanding to identify basic antibiotic medications and administer them to their children even for common ailments like fever or sore throat, according to the findings of a recent study.
The study found that 63% of parents were unaware that amoxicillin is an antibiotic, while about 56% lacked awareness regarding azithromycin. Around 79% correctly identified paracetamol as not being an antibiotic.
The burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is significantly higher in developing nations due to excessive antibiotic prescriptions, insufficient patient education, incomplete medication courses, antibiotic overuse in animal and fish farming, subpar infection control in healthcare facilities, inadequate hygiene and sanitation practices, unregulated antibiotic sales, and a dearth of new antibiotic development, reports Nature Journal.
The emergence and spread of AMR have been recognized by the WHO as a hotspot among developing countries in Southeast Asia (SEA).
The extensive use of antibiotics in Southeast Asia across various sectors, including humans, animals, aquaculture, and agriculture, is primarily attributed to their widespread usage.
In Bangladesh, a country in Southeast Asia, the use of antibiotics is increasing and there is a lack of effective regulations governing their use. Consequently, the prevalence of AMR bacteria-associated infections is increasing30.
According to a 2018 report, superbugs and bacteria resistant to multiple drugs were identified in approximately 14% of all infection cases, and approximately 70% of fatalities in intensive care units resulted from infections resistant to multiple drugs28.
Notably, this issue affects individuals in all age groups. However, the incidence of AMR infections is higher among children in developing nations such as Bangladesh.
Emerging from Southeast Asia, Bangladesh presents a regional and global challenge owing to its high prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
This increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is directly linked to widespread self-medication practices within the Bangladeshi population.
Unregulated access to antibiotics, evidenced by an alarming 18% presence in Dhaka households without prescriptions, fuels rampant self-medication for minor ailments, amplifies the rise of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), and poses dire individual and societal threats. Between 2016 and 2018, antibiotic consumption witnessed a precipitous surge from 16.6 to 21.8%, further exacerbating the crisis.
A comprehensive review revealed alarmingly high resistance rates against a multitude of tested microorganisms, effectively rendering many first-line antibiotics therapeutically inefficacious32.
Despite commendable national drug policies and reasonably good public healthcare access in Bangladesh, a significant proportion of antimicrobials are consumed without doctor prescriptions.
This ubiquitous self-medication, often orchestrated through community pharmacies, bypasses established national guidelines and perpetuates antimicrobial overuse in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Bangladesh.
Globally, children are vulnerable to infections and use substantial quantities of antibiotics. Several factors, including excessive prescription of antibiotics by physicians, parents’ limited understanding of how to use antibiotics, and the ease of obtaining antibiotics for self-medication have been proposed as contributing factors to inappropriate use of antibiotics in children.
